Camper Van Beethoven - Camper Van Beethoven is Dead, Long Live Camper Van Beethoven
(Pitch-A-Tent)
I've always felt that Camper Van Beethoven was one of the most underappreciated
bands of the 1980's. While championed by critics, they are remembered by most
people as little more than a novelty band, as "Take the Skinheads Bowling" was
their only song to chart. A surrealist, Zappa-esque sense of humour coupled
with fresh irreverence towards the rest of rock music (including the
"underground" that they emerged from) infused most of their work in songs like
"Joe Stalin's Cadillac" and "(We're A) Bad Trip." However, the band's last two
albums were far cries from "Take the Skinheads Bowling," as David Lowery's
songwriting became far more confident.
Sadly, the band broke up after the release of their most mature and beautiful
album, Key Lime Pie. The various post-CVB bands (Cracker, Monks of Doom,
Hieronymous Firebrain, Dent, et al) never seemed to live up to their
possibilities. It came as a big surprise when Camper Van Beethoven released a
new collection of rarities and live tracks, as the Camper Vantiquities
collection seemed to have filled most of the gaps. This album, released on
Lowery's Pitch-A-Tent label (the same label that originally pressed the
self-released Telephone Free Landslide Victory in 1985), was assembled by
Lowery, bassist Victor Krummenacher, and original violinist Jonathan Segel in
a digital studio last December. More than a collection of miscellaneous
tracks, new songs were actually built from remnants of live tapes and unused
studio bits, making Camper Van Beethoven is Dead essentially a new Camper
Van Beethoven album (in the style of the Beatles "Free as a Bird").
The liner notes are quite vague as to the source of the material, which was
probably the band's intent. "Balalaika Gap (Demo)" and "L'Aguardiente" clearly
date from the earliest period of the band, when they would perform Eastern
European-styled folk songs in punk clubs. The long lost "Closing Theme" from
Key Lime Pie and an orchestral version of "All Her Favorite Fruit" represent
the later period of the band. The songs all flow together seamlessly, a
testament to the power of digital editing, though it gives the album the
strange unsettling eclecticism that the Dent records suffer from.
For fans of Lowery's songwriting, do not miss "Tom Flower's 1500 Valves" or the
sublime "Klondike." Darker than previous Camper songs, these new tunes are
exquisitely arranged with plenty of electronic enhancements. The electronics
actually start to take over the album through their simple drum machines and
strange bleeps and blips (probably masking flaws in the original live tapes).
The final track, "We're All Wasted and We're Wasting All Your Time" perfectly
sums up the entire history of Camper Van Beethoven (or else it's just another
in-joke--you decide).
If you're a fan of the band, Camper Van Beethoven is Dead is absolutely
necessary. If you've never listened to them before, it's probably best to steer
clear of this record. The title of the album is quite appropriate, as it's the
animated corpse of Camper Van Beethoven instead of the decaying carcass that
most rarities collections are. Perhaps the band will continue, with Lowery and
company creating a new, artificial record every 10 years. If so, then let's
hope that they don't wear out the idea.
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